Selling the tobacco products in non-standardised packaging will be illegal under the new law.

“This is an important step towards the long-term aim of a tobacco-free society. Protecting children and young people from tobacco is at the core of Norwegian tobacco politics,” the director general of the Norwegian Directorate of Health Bjørn Guldvog told news agency NTB.

“Tobacco packaging has been one of the last advertising channels for tobacco in Norway,” Guldvog added.

A transitional phase for producers to switch to the neutral packaging comes to an end on Sunday, July 1st.

That means that logos, symbols, pictures, colours and any other form of advertisement are now banned from cigarette packets and the circular boxes of snus, a moist powder tobacco product related to dry snuff that is popular in Norway and Sweden.

Packaging will be given a standardised colour and brand names must be written in a generic colour and style.

Last year, an injunction was taken out against the Norwegian state by snus producer Swedish Match in an effort to delay the introduction of neutral packaging after the law was passed on July 1st 2017.

The legal pursuit was unsuccessful, however, and the deadline for all packaging to become neutral within a year remained in place.